The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)

Percival's gaze softened with concern as he noticed the faint bruise beneath Vivienne's eyes. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Vivienne, you should get some rest. We can talk about everything else tomorrow." Nodding, Vivienne snuggled into Percival's embrace, her arms wrapped around his muscular torso, comforted by the strong beat of his heart.

Gradually, Vivienne's breathing evened out, and Percival, too, drifted off to sleep.

As dawn broke, the roosters of Luck Village crowed punctually.

Vivienne woke up to find the bed beside her empty, the warmth long gone. Clutching the communicator tightly, she hesitated for a moment before setting it aside, deciding to wait for him to return.

A brief sound of footsteps lingered at her door, like someone checking in before quickly moving away. Smiling ambiguously, Vivienne turned her gaze toward the window.

A knock on the door pulled her back from her thoughts. She swiftly walked over and opened it. "What's up?"

"The mayor wants to see us," Logan said.

Vivienne nodded, quickly following Logan back to the villa, now crowded with people. She scanned the room before taking a seat at the long table beside Logan, seemingly unfazed by the attention they attracted. "Hope you had a good rest. Please, have breakfast. Let me know if you need anything," the mayor offered, his words laced with an unsettling undertone.

Vivienne's glance briefly met with Sebastian's, who didn't look back at her.

Logan gave the mayor a noncommittal nod.

As Logan reached for his food, Vivienne smiled subtly under her breath.

Just as Logan was about to eat, he paused, making the mayor inquire, "Is there a problem?"

"None at all," Logan responded, continuing to eat, while the mayor's eyes gleamed unnoticed.

After breakfast, Logan and Vivienne headed out. No sooner had they stepped into the courtyard than Vivienne swiftly applied a silver needle to Logan's neck. "Ms. Vivienne, what kind of poison is this?" Logan asked, frowning.

Though Logan hadn't noticed anything amiss at breakfast, Vivienne's subtle warning had made him cautious, but he still ended up swallowing the poison. With another needle, Logan spat out blood, blackened within seconds, revealing the villagers' deadly capabilities.

Vivienne smirked. "They didn't plan on letting us leave alive."

As they awaited further instructions, Draven had already planted explosives per Vivienne's plan.

With the time drawing near, Draven received an unsettling notification.

"50 people?" Vivienne's expression darkened upon receiving the call.

The discovery of fifty missing women possibly linked to Luck Village was unexpected, throwing their plans into disarray.

"Hold off for now. Wait for my orders," Vivienne instructed Draven before heading out, Logan trailing behind without objection. Confronting Sebastian in the courtyard, Vivienne stated, "You're coming with me. My mentor is waiting."

Sebastian silently followed her, disappearing from the villagers' watchful eyes.

In the surveillance room, the mayor and his men scrutinized the screens. Although everything appeared normal with Sebastian now in a separate room, they failed to notice the absence of verbal

Bovenet

communication between him and Vivienne.

"What happened?" Percival asked upon entering.

Vivienne shared the alarming news with Percival, their next moves uncertain.

Percival's brow furrowed almost immediately, "Fifty women vanished all at once? How come we're only hearing about this now?"

"Just got the news, any chance it's related to Luck Village?" Vivienne inquired.

Percival shook his head, "I've never received any intel on this."

After a moment of thought, Vivienne pulled out her phone and dialed Draven, "Can you dig up the

birthdates of these women and send them over to me?" Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Draven was swift; within minutes, Vivienne's phone beeped with a message from him.

A smirk played on Vivienne's lips, "Heh, some people just never learn."

Squinting towards the direction of the surveillance, Vivienne could almost see the deceitful grimaces of the village elders through the camera.

Percival took her phone to take a look, "Vivienne, there's a pattern here, all of them were born under the lunar calendar."

His eyes suddenly widened, "Wait, that's not it!"

He quickly realized something even more unsettling, "It's not just that, they were all born during the lunar "Yin' hours!"

"Right." Vivienne walked towards the

corner of the room, her gaze drifting

casually over the yard, "Looks like we'll have to put our plans on hold. There's a good chance they're planning to use these women for some sort of ritual."